#5: [01-Mar-19]

#3: [13-Aug-09]

#2: [05-Sep-04]

#1: [10-Feb-01]

18-Oct-2012 -- I stayed in Lisbon to attend the ESICM annual meeting and report on the results of our team. It has become now usual to spare some time during these professional trips to allow us 2 or 3 days of discovery of the hosting country and pay visits to a couple of CP.

So we visited N39 W9 on Sunday Oct 14th and N40 W8 on Thursday Oct 18th.

This second CP is located in a remote mountain area called Serra de Estrella. Our starting line was the city of Coimbra wich is located 42 km in a straight line from the CP but a 100km away by the road. Our itinerary went through a very scenic forest road but our trip was unpleasant due to continuous rain. After a lunch in Castanheira da Peira and another 40 minutes drive we ultimately stopped our car on the road side 245 meters north of the point.

The point is located on a steep NS slope on the mountain side where Eucalyptus trees have been replanted after a forest fire. The trees have been planted in rows along terraces that have reshaped the mountain side. The embankments separating the terraces are 1 to 2 meters high making progression on the slope very difficult.

We reached the CP after locating the “best terrace” (though a few unsuccessful tries under the rain) to make our approach. The landscape at the point is quite different from the descriptions made by previous visitors due to the rapid growth of the Eucalyptus trees. The lines of sight from the CP are very short as can be seen on the cardinal pictures.

The whole area is very scenic with the hillside road overlooking the Rio Zezere but the bad weather didn’t allow us to come home with nice pictures. On our way back we paid a short visit at the city of Goïs where a medieval bridge nicely reflects itself in the Rio Ceira.

We spent the next day enjoying our stay in Coimbra wich is famous for the University established in 1290 making it one of the oldest universities in the world. The Library founded in 1717 is one of the most astonishing things to see in Europe.